Chainlink integrated its data services and crosschain protocol into the institutional blockchain Canton Network and joined as a super validator. Chainlink has integrated with the Canton Network, an institutional blockchain backed by global banks and technology firms, in a move aimed at strengthening institutional adoption of blockchain technology. The partnership, announced Wednesday, brings Chainlink’s data service, including its data streams, smartdata (proof of reserve and NAVLink) and the crosschain interoperability protocol (CCIP) onto the Canton Network. The network has also joined the Chainlink Scale program, which helps cover oracle operating costs. As part of the agreement, Chainlink Labs will become a Canton Network “super validator.” A super validator is a combined node that runs a domain validator and a Canton synchronizer node. It participates in the Global Synchronizer to order and finalize cross-domain transactions, providing consensus and interoperability across the network. Read more
Chainalysis APAC policy lead Chengyi Ong says favorable policy and taxes helped boost crypto in Japan, while stablecoins were popular across the Asia Pacific. Japan’s recent policy shifts have helped the country more than double its crypto adoption over the past year, according to crypto analytics company Chainalysis. Among the top five markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Japan saw the strongest growth, with its value received onchain growing 120% year-on-year in the 12 months to June, according to an excerpt from Chainalysis’ 2025 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report released on Wednesday. Chainalysis’ head of APAC policy, Chengyi Ong, told Cointelegraph that activity in Japan “reflects some of the trends that we saw in the global market, a sharp pickup in trading volumes in the fourth quarter of 2024 on the back of the US presidential election, followed by a tapering.” Read more
XRP price was up 6.8% since Monday’s crypto market pullback, as traders said key support levels must hold to sustain a recovery to new all-time highs. Key takeaways: XRP whales continue accumulating on the dips, boosting chances of a recovery. XRP price must hold above $2.70 support to continue upside toward $4. Read more
DefiLlama data showed that Aster topped daily perpetual trading volumes with $24.7 billion on Wednesday, surpassing competitors including Hyperliquid and edgeX. Aster, a decentralized perpetuals exchange on BNB Chain, saw open interest surge nearly 33,500% in less than a week, challenging that of its top rival, Hyperliquid. On Wednesday, CoinGlass data showed that Aster’s open interest jumped from $3.72 million on Friday to $1.25 billion at the time of writing. The spike in active contracts signaled that traders were piling into the platform, challenging its biggest competitor, Hyperliquid. Open interest refers to the total number of outstanding contracts that haven’t been settled. It’s used as a key metric to gauge liquidity and market conviction toward a project. Aster’s open interest surge showed that the traders are willing to deploy capital on the platform. Read more
Can stablecoins disrupt Visa and Mastercard? Explore how blockchain payments may capture billions in fees from US credit card networks. Stablecoins reduce settlement time, cross-border costs and enable programmable rewards. They outpace traditional credit card systems. US merchants pay over $100 billion in card fees yearly. In comparison, stablecoins offer much cheaper, faster payments. Ripple’s RLUSD, Gemini’s XRP Card and Moca’s Air Shop show stablecoins moving into mainstream commerce. Read more
Introduced in October 2020, Europe’s digital euro may not launch until 2029, according to ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone. The digital euro, the European Union’s long-planned central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, is facing delays, with its launch now expected around mid-2029. The EU’s digital euro could become a reality in 2029, European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said in a Bloomberg Future of Finance event Tuesday in Frankfurt. “The middle of 2029 could be a fair assessment,” he said, adding that the ECB has been actively discussing the project at the level of EU member states. Read more
Growing Wall Street crypto adoption and agentic AI platforms may catalyze a “supercycle” for Ethereum, according to BitMine, the largest corporate holder of Ether. Update Sept. 24, 1:07 p.m. UTC: This article has been updated to include quotes from Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen. The cryptocurrency market may experience its first extended cycle due to more institutional capital and trading products in the Web3 industry, making digital asset investments more accessible. Some investors predict a crypto “supercycle” that may invalidate the theory of the four-year crypto market cycle related to the Bitcoin (BTC) halving, and see digital asset valuation rise beyond this historic time frame. Read more
Kraken committed $2 million to Freedom Fund PAC and America First Digital, citing a need to defend crypto users’ rights in the US. Crypto exchange Kraken pledged $2 million to two politically aligned groups as part of what it calls an ongoing battle to defend core crypto freedoms in the US. In a Tuesday post on X, Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi announced that the exchange will donate $1 million to the Freedom Fund PAC and increase its 2025 commitment to America First Digital to $1 million. “The fight for crypto in the United States is far from over,” Sethi wrote. He warned that crypto’s foundational rights, like self-custody and decentralized access, remain under threat from “regulatory uncertainty,” bans on privacy tools and efforts to criminalize infrastructure. Read more
Bitcoin whale distribution and a weakening technical structure could push BTC price into an extended sell-off toward $100,000. Key takeaways: Bitcoin whales have sold 147,000 BTC over the past 30 days. BTC price bear flag targets $100,000 if support breaks. Read more
FearsOff CEO Marwan Hachem told Cointelegraph that it was risky to keep too much centralized control in projects that “claim to be decentralized.” Decentralized social platform UXLink said on Wednesday it was deploying a new Ethereum contract after a multisignature wallet exploit allowed attackers to mint billions of unauthorized tokens and crash the value of its native asset. UXLink said its new smart contract had passed a security audit and would be deployed on the Ethereum mainnet. The project said the new contract dropped the mint-burn function to prevent any similar incidents in the future. The project confirmed the breach on Tuesday, saying that a significant amount of crypto was transferred to exchanges. Estimates of the losses from the hack vary, with Cyvers Alerts estimating it saw at least $11 million stolen, and Hacken placing the figure at more than $30 million. Read more